Ice recently was been unearthed in Canada that stayed frozen for 700,000 years even in warmer times, this should ease fears of melting permafrost venting its vast carbon stores to hasten global warming. Permafrost is also known as subsoil that remains frozen year-round, it underlies a quarter of the land in the Northern Hemisphere and is said to hold twice as much carbon as is in the atmosphere. When permafrost melts, many fear that it will quicken the rate of global warming significantly, That is one one the many fears of the warming of the planet. So experts are saying that permafrost might just have qualities that keep it cool in warm times, which is exactly what we need now so that we can find ways to prevent the melting process. The findings also suggest that global warming will occur at a much slower pace than predicted, seeing that the topsoil layer can act as insulation for the permafrost.
You rarely hear about good things related to the global warming crisis, hearing about this doesn't make me feel really better because it simply just gives us more time to prevent continuing melting. It not saying this is something we don't have to worry about, it is just evidence saying that we have more time than we realized, 700,00 years is a long time but that was permafrost that was on the bottom level of the original mass the majority of it already melted.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhTx33DaiT4B6rouUO4ejSampipA
1 comment:
That is quite interesting that the majority of the mass has already melted,and now the bottom is exposed. So I wonder what studies are being performed to help slow the process down?
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